How to add sales tax, VAT, or occupancy tax to direct booking prices
When a platform takes the booking, it often handles the tax line. On your own website that job is yours, and the form has to get it right on every quote: the right rate, the right base, and a line the guest understands. RentalBeam does it with one fee type. This guide shows how to set it up for a US-style tax added at checkout and for a European VAT already inside your prices.
One fee type does the tax
A booking-form fee can scale five ways, and the fifth, % of total, is the tax shape. You type a rate, up to three decimals, and the form applies it to the discounted subtotal plus your other fees, the same base tax authorities use. Two percentage fees never tax each other.
Added on top, or already in the price
| Mode | Who uses it | What the guest sees |
|---|---|---|
| Added on top (default) | US sales and occupancy taxes | The tax as its own line with the rate, above the total |
| In your prices | VAT in Europe | The total unchanged, plus a quiet line under it: Includes Tax (20%) |
Included taxes are always on; there is nothing for a guest to opt into. The Sales Tax quick-add preset uses the added mode and the VAT preset uses the included mode, and both labels are translated for guests.
Set it up
- 1
Add the fee
On the Pricing tab, choose the Sales Tax or VAT preset, or add a fee of type % of total, and type the rate. 8.875 percent is fine.
- 2
Pick the mode
Added on top for a checkout tax, in your prices for VAT.
- 3
Decide what is taxed
Every other fee row now shows a tax base switch. Whether a separately stated cleaning fee is taxed varies by place, so leave it taxed or exclude it as your law says.
- 4
Say who it is for
Add a guest note in your own words: "City occupancy tax, collected on behalf of the city". Notes are shown exactly as typed.
A per-person tourist tax is not a percentage
A tax charged per guest per night is a per-guest fee, not a percentage. Add a fee per guest or per guest per night, set it to apply to everyone (a baby in a cot can still owe a per-person tourist tax), and add a guest note. If children pay a reduced amount, use age bands under child rates; a 50 percent band halves the per-person fee for that age on its own.
What discounts do to the tax
Percentage fees are calculated on the discounted subtotal, so an automatic discount or a coupon code reduces the tax with it. The guest sees the discounted subtotal, the tax line with its rate, and the total, in that order and in their own language.
Summary
Add one percentage fee with your rate, choose added or included, exclude any fee your law does not tax, and write a one-line note saying who the tax is for. Every quote from then on carries the right tax, and the guest can see exactly what it is.